Written by Madelaine Kukanza and Peter Dunn
Inspired By Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire”
Korea, transplant, Truman and the H-Bomb
Credit Cards, Alger Hiss, how bout that comic strip?
Color TV, MacArthur said “peace”, happy times with the Japanese
Flash Cameras, Churchill, South Africans please carry those racial IDs
Polio and seat belts, for your safety and your health
Cousteau and the Greek ship, Nixon and his Checker’s speech.
Chorus We didn’t plant the seeds
They were always growing
And those ideas flowing.
We didn’t plant the seeds
The ideas were raining
And the seeds were gaining.
DNA, Mt. Everest climbed, only made better cause Stalin died
Julius and Ethel. England meet your new queen
Dien Bien Phu, cancer, and the first atomic submarine
Bannister and the four-minute mile, all races have the power
Disneyland, Rosa Parks, and the Civil Right’s demand
Warsaw Pact, James Dean “Rock Around the Clock”
Chorus We didn’t plant the seeds
They were always growing
And those ideas flowing.
We didn’t plant the seeds
The ideas were raining
And the seeds were gaining.
Velcro, Princess Grace, Elvis Presley set the pace
Khrushchev, Stalin and problems in the Suez.
Dr. Suess, Sputnik, Eisenhower Doctrine
Little Rock, oh my god what a shock!
Berlin Airlift, Lego Toys, don’t you get the drift?
NASA, Charles De Gaulle, Hula Hoops shouldn’t fall
Castro, Sound of Music, Barbie, Buddy Holly
Alaska, Hawaii—now we have the big 5-0!
Chorus We didn’t plant the seeds
They were always growing
And those ideas flowing.
We didn’t plant the seeds
The ideas were raining
And the seeds were gaining.
Khrushchev and Castro what a fiasco
Russians in space, we already lost the race
Truman and Ike carry on the fight
Alaska and Hawaii complete the land
Because now we must take our final stand
We didn’t plant the seeds
They were always growing
Always growing, always growing, always growing…
TIMELINES:
Foreign:
1950 North Korea invades South Korea, sparking the Korean War. President Truman sends U.S. military troops as part of a United Nations effort.
April 11, 1951 General MacArthur fired
1953 - Fighting ends in Korea.
1954 - U. S. Senator Joseph McCarthy begins televised hearings into alleged Communists in the army.
1958 Nikita Khrushchev becomes premier of the U.S.S.R.
1958 - Explorer I, the first U.S. satellite, successfully orbits the earth.
1957 Sputnik is launched by the USSR
1959 Fidel Castro becomes premier of Cuba.
1959 The U.S.S.R. sets off an international, space-age buzz when it launches a rocket with two monkeys on board.
Political:
1950 Former state department bureaucrat and alleged Communist spy Alger Hiss is convicted of perjury. Senator Joseph McCarthy begins his one-man anti-Communist crusade.
1950 to 1953 Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, accused of cold war espionage, are sentenced to death. The Rosenbergs are executed in 1953 amid protest.
1951 General MacArthur fired
1952 - The Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1952 is signed, removing racial and ethnic barriers to becoming a U.S. citizen.
1953 - Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are electrocuted for their part in W.W.II espionage.
1954 In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas the Supreme Court rules unanimously that racial segregation violates the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
1954 - Racial segregation is ruled unconstitutional in public schools by the U.S. Supreme Court.
1955 - Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a public bus in Montgomery, Alabama.
1955 - The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merge making the new AFL-CIO an organization with 15 million members.
1956 - The Federal Highway Act is signed, marking the beginning of work on the interstate highway system.
1957 In Little Rock, Arkansas, the civil rights movement shifts into high gear when white crowds protest efforts to desegregate public schools. President Eisenhower sends in the National Guard.
December 10, 1958 - The first domestic jet-airline passenger service is begun by National Airlines between New York City and Miami.
Cultural and Social:
1950- The very first “Peanuts” cartoon strip was released
1951-The beginning fo Color T.V
1954- Segregation is made illegal
1956- Grace Kelly became Princess Grace when she marries Prince Rainier III of Monoco
1956- The T.V Remote Control is introduced
1957- Dr. Suess writes Cat in the Hat
1958- Hula Hoops rise in popularity
1958- Lego Toys are created
1959- Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P Richardson die in a plane crash
OUR FOREIGN POLICY:
-Increase our sphere of influence(expand markets for American EXPORTS)
-Marshall plan-helped rebuild western Europe so it would not turn communist.
-Peace Corps-we sponsored the Peace Corps and used them to better our reputation with the world
-Send supplies to Afghanistan
-Aided in rebuilding Japan
-contain communism
ECONOMICS:
-The United States was the most successful in the world during this era
-The GNP went from $284.6 billion to $482.7 billion throughout the 1950’s
-This was a time of an intense increase in the economy
-Domestic problems were ignored for a while so that the economy could rise, but that caused problems later on
MUSIC AND FASHION:
-This was the era of Rock n’ Roll
-Famous Artists: Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Chuck Berry.
Girls wore pedal pushers or poodle skirts and their hair was often in a ponytail, but girls slowly began to rebel from this look
Boys wore tight jeans and shirts, slicked hair, and leather jackets.
People to Know:
Eisenhower
Truman
McCarthy
Rosa Parks
Elvis Presley
Douglas MacArthur
1950's- A Time of Affluence and Anxiety
“We Didn’t Plant the Seeds”
Written by Madelaine Kukanza and Peter DunnInspired By Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire”
Korea, transplant, Truman and the H-Bomb
Credit Cards, Alger Hiss, how bout that comic strip?
Color TV, MacArthur said “peace”, happy times with the Japanese
Flash Cameras, Churchill, South Africans please carry those racial IDs
Polio and seat belts, for your safety and your health
Cousteau and the Greek ship, Nixon and his Checker’s speech.
Chorus
We didn’t plant the seeds
They were always growing
And those ideas flowing.
We didn’t plant the seeds
The ideas were raining
And the seeds were gaining.
DNA, Mt. Everest climbed, only made better cause Stalin died
Julius and Ethel. England meet your new queen
Dien Bien Phu, cancer, and the first atomic submarine
Bannister and the four-minute mile, all races have the power
Disneyland, Rosa Parks, and the Civil Right’s demand
Warsaw Pact, James Dean “Rock Around the Clock”
Chorus
We didn’t plant the seeds
They were always growing
And those ideas flowing.
We didn’t plant the seeds
The ideas were raining
And the seeds were gaining.
Velcro, Princess Grace, Elvis Presley set the pace
Khrushchev, Stalin and problems in the Suez.
Dr. Suess, Sputnik, Eisenhower Doctrine
Little Rock, oh my god what a shock!
Berlin Airlift, Lego Toys, don’t you get the drift?
NASA, Charles De Gaulle, Hula Hoops shouldn’t fall
Castro, Sound of Music, Barbie, Buddy Holly
Alaska, Hawaii—now we have the big 5-0!
Chorus
We didn’t plant the seeds
They were always growing
And those ideas flowing.
We didn’t plant the seeds
The ideas were raining
And the seeds were gaining.
Khrushchev and Castro what a fiasco
Russians in space, we already lost the race
Truman and Ike carry on the fight
Alaska and Hawaii complete the land
Because now we must take our final stand
We didn’t plant the seeds
They were always growing
Always growing, always growing, always growing…
TIMELINES:
Foreign:1950 North Korea invades South Korea, sparking the Korean War. President Truman sends U.S. military troops as part of a United Nations effort.
April 11, 1951 General MacArthur fired
1953 - Fighting ends in Korea.
1954 - U. S. Senator Joseph McCarthy begins televised hearings into alleged Communists in the army.
1958 Nikita Khrushchev becomes premier of the U.S.S.R.
1958 - Explorer I, the first U.S. satellite, successfully orbits the earth.
1957 Sputnik is launched by the USSR
1959 Fidel Castro becomes premier of Cuba.
1959 The U.S.S.R. sets off an international, space-age buzz when it launches a rocket with two monkeys on board.
Political:
1950 Former state department bureaucrat and alleged Communist spy Alger Hiss is convicted of perjury. Senator Joseph McCarthy begins his one-man anti-Communist crusade.
1950 to 1953 Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, accused of cold war espionage, are sentenced to death. The Rosenbergs are executed in 1953 amid protest.
1951 General MacArthur fired
1952 - The Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1952 is signed, removing racial and ethnic barriers to becoming a U.S. citizen.
1953 - Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are electrocuted for their part in W.W.II espionage.
1954 In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas the Supreme Court rules unanimously that racial segregation violates the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
1954 - Racial segregation is ruled unconstitutional in public schools by the U.S. Supreme Court.
1955 - Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a public bus in Montgomery, Alabama.
1955 - The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merge making the new AFL-CIO an organization with 15 million members.
1956 - The Federal Highway Act is signed, marking the beginning of work on the interstate highway system.
1957 In Little Rock, Arkansas, the civil rights movement shifts into high gear when white crowds protest efforts to desegregate public schools. President Eisenhower sends in the National Guard.
December 10, 1958 - The first domestic jet-airline passenger service is begun by National Airlines between New York City and Miami.
Cultural and Social:
1950- The very first “Peanuts” cartoon strip was released
1951-The beginning fo Color T.V
1954- Segregation is made illegal
1956- Grace Kelly became Princess Grace when she marries Prince Rainier III of Monoco
1956- The T.V Remote Control is introduced
1957- Dr. Suess writes Cat in the Hat
1958- Hula Hoops rise in popularity
1958- Lego Toys are created
1959- Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P Richardson die in a plane crash
OUR FOREIGN POLICY:
-Increase our sphere of influence(expand markets for American EXPORTS)-Marshall plan-helped rebuild western Europe so it would not turn communist.
-Peace Corps-we sponsored the Peace Corps and used them to better our reputation with the world
-Send supplies to Afghanistan
-Aided in rebuilding Japan
-contain communism
ECONOMICS:
-The United States was the most successful in the world during this era-The GNP went from $284.6 billion to $482.7 billion throughout the 1950’s
-This was a time of an intense increase in the economy
-Domestic problems were ignored for a while so that the economy could rise, but that caused problems later on
MUSIC AND FASHION:
-This was the era of Rock n’ Roll-Famous Artists: Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Chuck Berry.
Girls wore pedal pushers or poodle skirts and their hair was often in a ponytail, but girls slowly began to rebel from this look
Boys wore tight jeans and shirts, slicked hair, and leather jackets.
People to Know:
Eisenhower
Truman
McCarthy
Rosa Parks
Elvis Presley
Douglas MacArthur
Interesting 50s Sites
50s Slang
50s Fashion
50s Music
Elvis Presley-Jailhouse Rock Music Video
Sources:
www.wikipedia.org
history1900s.about.com/library/time/bltime1950.htm
www.fashion-era.com/1950s/1950s_9_timeline_chart.htm
www.answers.com/topic/timeline-of-united-states-history-1950-1969
history.enotes.com/1950-business-economy-america-decades
www.mediahistory.umn.edu/time/1950s.html
www.djs-unlimited.net/DJU50.html
home.att.net/~boomers.fifties.teenmag/1950s_fashion.html
drake.marin/k12/ca/us/students/gallaghj/fashion/fash_thru_decade.html
www.statondailyphoto.com
www.ghettodriveby.com
www.youtube.com
kclibrary.nhmccd.edu/decade50.html